Is Rashad Evans (17-1-1 MMA, 12-1-1 UFC) willing to let Jon Jones (15-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) create space to strike? Or to leave his torso or legs exposed to be scooped off his feet?

Is Jones willing to let Evans close the distance to box? Or to smother him against the cage before depositing him to the mat?

Forget for a moment the rivalry between the champ and former champ; that’s old news. Their fight could take many different shapes, but there are key factors to consider in the headliner of UFC 145, which takes place Saturday at Philips Arena in Atlanta.

That’s when Jones attempts to defend his title for a third time when he meets Rashad Evans on the event’s main card, which airs live on pay-per-view. Facebook and FX carry the prelims.

Here’s what we know about Jones: He’s long, unpredictable and hasn’t been tested since his early days in the UFC. Physically bigger than most of his opponents, he’s able to pick at them from range with beanstalk legs and a long jab. He’s explosive when he goes for the takedown, and he favors upper-body locks and trips of Greco-Roman wrestling as opposed to the leg attacks of its freestyle counterpart. He’s got a flair for the creative and intuition about the flow of a fight, meaning he has an uncanny sense of when to take risks and make a full commitment to them.

The champ could attack in a myriad of ways and has shown himself able to take out an opponent with many different tools. But he either needs time to put together striking attacks, or he needs to be able to control the clinch to set up a takedown. Falter in those places, and he’ll give Evans a chance to steal momentum.

Here’s what we know about Evans: He’s got fast hands, he’s quick on his feet, and he has an ability to smother his opponents against the fence and on the mat. Once a good wrestler with punching power, he’s grown into a technician who seamlessly blends from one range to the next. He’s also a tactician and is excellent at making his opponents fight where they’re least comfortable.

Against Jones, that means stuffing him up against the cage, where he’s unable to explode into takedowns. It means closing the distance to take away the reach disadvantage. It means constantly being first to attack. Lapse in any of those areas, and he will find himself playing catchup.

Late action has narrowed Jones’ lead as a favorite, but odds still give him more than a 75 percent chance of winning the fight. And with their long-simmering feud robbed of sizzle over the past few weeks, the title fight’s true storyline is youth vs. experience, underdog vs. massive favorite. The rest is distraction.

A Jones victory narrows to one the number of contenders in the immediate pipeline. Only Dan Henderson sits on the horizon. Mauricio Rua? Lyoto Machida? Phil Davis? Quinton Jackson? Not any time soon, if ever.

An Evans victory opens the field a bit more. A rematch with Machida, who took his belt in 2009, becomes a possibility. Rua would provide fireworks, and Henderson as well. Even Jackson could arguably make a good rematch after Evans’ triumph two years ago (if “Rampage” is still in the UFC).

Whether those matchups trump the business benefit of a young, dominant champ is up for debate. Evans seems to attract more hate than love in the arena while Jones gets a mixture. Both will continue to be top draws after this fight.

But after a long wait, one is about to claim bragging rights to go along with the belt.

Other main-card fights

Rory MacDonald (12-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) vs. Che Mills (14-4 MMA, 1-0 UFC): After suffering his first and only loss to now-interim welterweight champ Carlos Condit, MacDonald went on the offensive, handling Nate Diaz and Mike Pyle to reestablish himself as a top welterweight. The booking of Mills as his next opponent is not the kind that guarantees a title shot, but it does give him an opportunity to win over more fans and the UFC with an impressive performance. Mills, who made his octagon debut this past November with a knockout of Chris Cope, is faced with the task of upsetting a fighter with a huge amount of momentum behind him. With Mills having heavy hands and vulnerability to submissions, expect MacDonald to go for the ground and pound while his opponent tries to land the big shot.

Brendan Schaub (8-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) vs. Ben Rothwell (31-8 MMA, 1-2 UFC): After a knockout loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira that temporarily sacked a run for the heavyweight title, Schaub is rebuilding momentum lost. Veteran Rothwell, meanwhile, is on thin ice after a loss this past September to Mark Hunt that put him at 1-2 in the UFC. Not only that, he’s returning after another longer-than-usual layoff after tearing his ACL in a win over Gilbert Yvel. Schaub’s challenge is to stay on his feet against the ground-and-pound specialist.

Miguel Torres (40-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC) vs. Michael McDonald (14-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC): Former WEC champion Torres continues on his road to redemption. After a listless win over Antonio Banuelos and a decision loss to onetime UFC bantamweight title challenger Demetrious Johnson, he was in bad need of a win and got one in his most recent outing against Nick Pace. Does he have what it takes to stop a young fireball? That’s exactly what he’s got in McDonald, a crisp striker who undoubtedly will test his sprawl-and-brawl skills in the fight. Being of roughly equal skill in the standup portion of the game, expect Torres to exert his will on the mat.

Mark Hominick (20-10 MMA, 3-2 UFC) vs. Eddie Yagin (15-5-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC): This is a do-over for Hominick given a costly mistake that prompted a knockout loss to Chan Sung Jung in his most recent outing. Since the Canadian did so well in a title bout against champion Jose Aldo, he hasn’t lost much momentum. But a loss to the unheralded Yagin would be devastating for his prospects at a second shot at the belt. The heavy-handed Yagin didn’t overwhelm in his sole octagon outing against Junior Assuncao, but he has a big shot at the upset here.

Mark Bocek (10-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) vs. John Alessio (34-14 MMA, 0-3 UFC): Alessio is a last-minute replacement for Matt Wiman, who was injured several weeks prior to Saturday’s event. Bocek is known as a grinder in most of his fights, so Alessio can be expected to keep distance and pick his shots from afar. Alessio may be good enough to avoid getting submitted by Bocek, but he most likely loses the position war if things hit the mat. It’s a tough gig for the veteran, who hasn’t fought in the UFC since 2006 and is winless inside the octagon.

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